How to teach phonics in a way that kids love and learn – vocabulary and fluency development.
It is important to consciously extend and develop children’s vocabulary from when they are very young. Children are fascinated by many things. “Why” questions are part of their being from an early age.
This is particularly important for children who struggle with reading as they get older. They can be so close to working out a word, but how can they “twig” to what it is, if they are not familiar with the word? How will they pick up on fine nuances of meaning in what they read, or get the meaning at all? They get further behind as other students continue to develop their knowledge and vocabulary by reading.
For example, in the video for “o”, children may not be familiar with otters if they are from Australia, or the Opera House if they are not from Australia. What might you see in an observatory? How were an ox or oxen used in medieval times? Children learn irregular plurals like ox/oxen by hearing them used.
Remember to review the sounds of letters often and to practise common, high frequency words using the sounds that have been learned. Try making up a set of cards for the common words to play Snap or other matching games.
If you child does not know one of the common words on the cards or the video, get him to work it out from the sounds of the letters. This is a much better way to learn these common words than trying to learn them as “sight words”. It avoids several potential problems in the future while still developing fluency.
Click on the bottom right hand corner of each video to see it full screen. If you have trouble seeing the videos, try these links: o, g, Phonic Comic 1/6, Phonic Comic 1/7, review, common words 1
Thanks to Auroco Libre, the well known Chilean band from Tasmania, for permission to film them.
Thanks to Mr Shevill W. Mathers, “Southern Cross Observatory”, Cambridge, Tasmania for photos of the moon (“observatory” – photos 4 and 5).
Print easy 1-06 and easy 1-07 back-to-back on A4 paper, cut across the centre on the line and fold to make Phonic Comic book 1/5 (and 1/2).
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